Scalp acupuncture for patients with vascular dementia A protocol for systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trails

Background: Vascular dementia (VD) is a kind of acquired intelligence impairment syndrome caused by a series of cerebrovascular factors leading to brain tissue damage. Scalp acupuncture is widely used to treating VD. However, there is no a systematic review has been used to assess the efficacy and safety of scalp acupuncture therapy for VD. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to systematically evaluate the effects of scalp acupuncture on VD. Methods: We will search the following databases from their inception to July 2020: PubMed, Chinese National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI), Wan Fang Database, Embase, Medline, Chinese Biomedical Literature Database (CBM), EBSCO, Web of Science, Technology Periodical Database (VIP), the Chongqing VIP Chinese Science and Cochrane Library. At the same time, we will retrieve other resources including conference articles, and gray literature. The randomized controlled trials (RCTs) in English or Chinese associated with scalp acupuncture for VD will be included. Our study data collection and analysis will be conducted independently by 2 reviewers, and Rev Man V.5.3.5 statistical software will be used to performing meta-analysis. Results: This review research will provide a high-quality synthesis to evaluate the efficacy and safety of scalp acupuncture for patients with VD. Conclusion: This study will provide available evidence to judge whether scalp acupuncture is an effective and safe intervention for patients with VD. It also will provide reliable evidence for its widespread application. Ethics and dissemination: This systematic review will provide convincing evidence for both patients and clinicians. It does not require ethical approval and the results will be published in a peer-reviewed journal. OSF Registration number: DOI 10.17605/OSF.IO/7CYZR.